( 2 ) 



Koer is almost entirely jilanted with Kanari-nnt and breadfruit trees. Virgin 

 forest no longer exists on Koer. Kilsoein is in the Koer gronp. 



Teoor is the sonthernmnst island of the Watoebela group. 



The Watoebela gronp consists of several islands, the largest of which is called 

 Watoebela proper, though generally misspelt Watabela or Matabella. This ishiud 

 is hilly, and well planted with cocoanut trees and partly covered with scrub. Eisoei 

 is one of tlie smalliT islands of the group. 



The Manawoka or Coram gronp consists principally of the islands of 

 Manawoka, Goram (Gorom or Gorong), and Goram-lant. The island of 

 tVanawoka is mountainous, covered with a thin layer of soil only, but luxuriantly 

 clad in green. 



Ceram-lant (and Kisser or Gisser) is an outlyer of Ceram. The Malay word 

 " laut," which occurs iu so many names of islands (Timorlaut, Goramlaut) means sea ; 

 and thus an island with the appendix " laut " is an island which lies oflF in the sea — 

 Ceram-laut being the Ceram outlying in the sea, in opposition to the great Ceram. 



Zoologically the Key Islands belong to the Moluccas, with which they are 

 connected by the long row of what I call the South-East or " Zuidooster " 

 Islands. Though only sixty miles westward of Dobbo in tlie Arn group, and just as 

 near to New Guinea as the Arn Islands, the Key Islands have only very few specially 

 Papuan bird-forms. They are separated from Aru and New Guinea by deep sea. 

 The number of species peculiar to the Key Islands is by no means small. A few 

 forms extend their range over both the Key and Aru groups, but it is uncertain if 

 they spread from Arn to Key, or from Key to Aru. More about this will be said 

 under the species. 



While the Key Islands have a rich avifauna, the South-East Islands are com- 

 paratively poor, as might be supposed from their smaller size, general want of 

 primeval forest, and their mostly recent coralline nature. Nevertheless their ornis, 

 with its interesting relations to that of Ceram in the north and that of the Key 

 Islands in the south, is most interesting. 



We are, on the whole, well acijuaintod with the birds of the Key group, where 

 Baron von Rosenberg and other Dutch travellers, Beccari and Wallace, have 

 collected. From the South-East Islands, however, there are hardly any collections 

 known, except tliose in the Leyden Museum. The series which we received from 

 Mr. Kiihn were therefore very welcome to the Tring Museum. 



From Toeal, on Little Key, we have, besides the collections from Kiihn, some 

 skins brought home from Captain Cayley Webster's voyage, and from Elat or Great 

 Key a few bad skins collected by Mr. William Doherty's natives. 



For the various islands readers are referred to the maps accompanying the 

 articles on Papuan Birds iu the present volume of Novitates Zoologicak. 



I.-PITTIDAE. 

 1. Pitta vigorsi Gould. 

 Mr. KiUin's collections have greatly extended the distribution of this fine Pitta, 

 which formerly was hardly known from any other places but Banda, Uammer and 

 Timorlaut. 



We have received a series from Kisoei Island (Watoebela group), one from 

 Teoor, two from Taam, and a tine series from Kilsoein, one of the Koer Islands. It 

 is, however, surprising to find this species also near Toeal, Little Key Islands. 

 From there we received an adult male, shot on June 6th, and also a nestling killed 



